HBC-4301 Operators Manual - Novatech Controls

7. VACUUM PUMPS
7.1 Introduction
The HBC-4301 control case is supplied with two vacuum pumps. Both pumps are turned on
and off electronically from either the control case or from the PC. In addition, the vacuum
pump #2 can be controlled to adjust the vacuum pumping rate.
The air supply pressure can be monitored at the PC or at the control case. The air supply
pressure should be between 400 and 600kPa. Provision has been made for two external
vacuum or pressure sensors that can be connected directly to the repair vacuum bag. These
sensors can be logged and graphed with the temperature profile. See Main Menu,
Temperature Graph. The range of the external transducers must be set in the control case,
setup function #31.
7.2 Vacuum Pump #1
The vacuum pump #1 can be switched on and off from either the PC or the control case. The
pump cannot have the vacuum level set. It is intended that it be used as a backup pump or for
providing a separate vacuum source when two tasks are being run.
See the next two subsections for the details of controlling the pump from the PC and the
control case.
7.3 Vacuum Pump #2
The vacuum pump #2 in the HBC-4301 is electronically controlled. The air supply is pulsed
on and off rather than operating all the time. This has the advantage that the noise and the
volume of compressed air are reduced. The pump will be switched off if the vacuum level is
close to or above the required vacuum level.
The vacuum control in the HBC-4301 can be set manually or controlled to a pre-programmed
level. The pre-programmed level can be a fixed vacuum or can be automatically changed for
each stage of the temperature cycle.
7.4 Controlling the Vacuum Pumps from the PC
NOTE: The control case must be set to Primary or Secondary before the pump can be
controlled from the remote PC.
The HBC-4301 was designed to be operated from the PC with the HBC-4301 control case set
to Primary or Secondary mode in the setup functions. In this remote mode of operation the
vacuum pumps can be turned on and off at the control case or from the PC and the vacuum
level can be controlled to a pre-set level at the control case or from the PC.
The pump can be made to operate:
At a fixed pumping rate
To a fixed vacuum level that automatically compensates for leaks
At programmed vacuum levels
For more details of the PC screen that controls the operation of the pump see chapter 5.2,
Vacuum / Pressure Setup in which there is a description of the screens that is available from
the Control Function Menu.
Page 29